Joey Polk missed out on the record books with his catch because he and his crew did not return the shark to the wild. Instead feeding it to 200 people at a community feast. The international land based shark fishing association requires sharks be released.

Joey Polk missed out on the record books with his catch because he and his crew did not return the shark to the wild. Instead feeding it to 200 people at a community feast. The international land based

Aerial footage showed more than a hundred sharks gathering off Gulf resorts in Alabama. Officials said they did not know what kind of sharks they were suggesting they could be Sand bar, Black Tip or Bull sharks. less

Aerial footage showed more than a hundred sharks gathering off Gulf resorts in Alabama. Officials said they did not know what kind of sharks they were suggesting they could be Sand bar, Black Tip or Bull ... more

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was bitten by another shark while she was on his line. less

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole ... more

Photo: From Video By Ashley Violet

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Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Photo: From Video By Ashley Violet

Image 22 of 27

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Photo: From Video By Ashley Violet

Image 23 of 27

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Fisherman Noe Campus says he delivered around 30 shark pups after he got a hammerhead ashore and discovered a huge hole in her belly. He says he thinks she was biten by another shark while she was on his line.

Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast in April.

Photo: Dane Kelly

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Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast.

Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast.

Photo: Dane Kelly

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Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast.

Divers spotted the Great White ominously swimming by during a trip out 80 miles off the Florida coast.

Photo: Dane Kelly

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Bellaire teen may be shark-bite victim

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A Bellaire teenager is wearing the mark of what is believed to be a weekend encounter with a shark.

Mikaela Amezaga, 14, acquired the half-moon, mirror image skin breaks that resemble a wide-mouth shark bite on her back around 6:30 p.m. Saturday while swimming near the Isla Del Sol community on the west end of Galveston Island.

Daniel Amezaga said his daughter was in waist-deep water when she felt something bump her upper body from behind.

"She was a little ways out. She went there to cool off," he said. "After a few minutes, she came out and said she felt something on her back."

When Mikaela moved her sticky-wet hair aside, her relatives saw blood dripping. Only after seeing their reactions did the teen begin to cry.

A physician friend, who was visiting the family, treated the wound - which appeared to have tiny teeth impressions. The high school freshman did not get stitches. She wasn't available for an interview late Monday.

"I couldn't believe it," Daniel Amezaga said. "It could have been a leg or arm. It definitely could have been worse. We have a smaller child, and there were a bunch of kids there."

The father said the bite wasn't reported to the Galveston Island Beach Patrol, but the family is accustomed to seeing sharks lurking in the water - especially near canals in the area.

"We see sharks all the time," Daniel Amezaga said. "Usually, they're after fish - not people."

Galveston Island Beach Patrol say it's unlikley a shark intended to bite her, more likely it was a case of mistaken identity.

"It happens when people maybe get mixed up with schooling fish like mullet. You get that quick bite and release because the shark thinks it's a fish," said Peter Davis from Beach Patrol, "When they realize it's not a fish, they let go."

Davis says there have been around 10 documented bites off Galveston in the last 25 years, most similar to the one reported by the 14-year-old.

"On the Texas Coast we don't see that many, even though the Gulf has a huge shark population," Davis said.

The shallow waters plus the small number of river or bay openings where sharks often gather to find food, keeps instances of shark bites down.

Beach Patrol do offer advice on avoiding close encounters with sharks though, including shuffling when you walk to create enough disturbance to make sharks swim away.

As well as that swimmers are warned to stay away from schooling fish which might look interesting but often attract larger fish looking for their dinner.

Getting into the water with open wounds is also a big no-no because sharks are highly sensitive to blood in the water.

"They can sense blood in the water at a ratio of 1 to 10,000," said Davis meaning sharks can smell one drop of blood even if is diluted in 10,000 drops of water.

Special instructions for fishing groups include keeping so-called stringers or bloody fish sometimes used as bait, far away from yourself.